tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66368378237924562762024-02-19T15:45:06.739+00:00Amiga MemoirsRicky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-8117372647035087302021-12-22T15:25:00.001+00:002021-12-22T15:25:37.360+00:00Chapter XLII: Zany Golf<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There’s an old saying: “The neighbour’s wife is always better than mine”. Yes, I know it’s kind of misogynistic and old-fashioned, but you can swap “wife” for “duck” or “drugs” and it still makes sense.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkhQZ0Xw3vGAIQio9NZnGUybrgzghEDrddWQLrWvpLq6_lQHgO_F_HBw6RyUDEhIlMr9hUVHRSTDdo0lDb9LFJpH4vRCdnIu1Ui4Z8e_5xNQVCGFFyMi-4CSOGXz_P_Hpy6YjjMnglHW3_K0XaFOaNnRKsr7TX3g0-DmLcpB9j9DVH8s8ugMCf_yOt=s692" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="692" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkhQZ0Xw3vGAIQio9NZnGUybrgzghEDrddWQLrWvpLq6_lQHgO_F_HBw6RyUDEhIlMr9hUVHRSTDdo0lDb9LFJpH4vRCdnIu1Ui4Z8e_5xNQVCGFFyMi-4CSOGXz_P_Hpy6YjjMnglHW3_K0XaFOaNnRKsr7TX3g0-DmLcpB9j9DVH8s8ugMCf_yOt=w400-h313" width="400"></a></div><p></p><span></span><a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2021/12/chapter-xlii-zany-golf.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-68246170873628753712018-11-05T16:04:00.000+00:002018-11-05T16:04:52.634+00:00Chapter XLI: Body BlowsI've mentioned before how legitimate copies of games were really hard to find back in the day where I lived. We used to call those “originals”. Sometimes even some fancier print on a pirated game was enough to fool me, because I didn't have much in the way of experience with the real “originals”. We were like that tribal man from “The Gods Must Be Crazy” with the Coca Cola bottle. Because of that, most of us would cherish magazine cover disks dearly since it was the closer we had to an “original”. Little I knew that getting one of those legitimate disks would made me accomplice to something not really legitimate.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2018/11/chapter-xli-body-blows.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-22482983343098746612017-05-11T12:41:00.000+01:002017-05-11T12:41:35.192+01:00Chapter XL: Kick Off 2It’s been a while since I've last written about a football game. OK, maybe not so long, but it’s funny how many games of this genre have been covered by someone who doesn’t care that much about the real sport. It may sound strange to do this already so late in this blog lifetime, since I’ve so many memories attached to this game that I don’t know where to start.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2017/05/chapter-xl-kick-off-2.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-59125002710758280222017-03-24T15:35:00.004+00:002017-03-24T16:46:30.835+00:00Chapter XXXIX: Shadow of the Beast II<i>“We only live to discover beauty. All else is a form of waiting”</i>. - Kahlil Gibran<br>
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<i>“Beauty isn’t the most important thing, it’s the only thing”</i> - The Neon Demon<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2017/03/chapter-xxxix-shadow-of-beast-ii.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-6452049373736728342017-01-09T14:10:00.001+00:002017-01-09T14:11:18.058+00:00Chapter XXXVIII: Dick TracyHow many times I’ve written about how lucky we were for playing pirated games. We got to watch lovely cracker intro screens and had the opportunity to have much more games than our financial means allowed. I know this is a very politically incorrect thing to say, but there’s something more to it to balance things out. Many of these pirated games were bugged.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2017/01/chapter-xxxviii-dick-tracy.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-290132711660574872016-12-09T16:04:00.002+00:002017-01-19T19:22:27.435+00:00Chapter XXXVII: WizkidBeing such a big nerd ever since a very young age, it was only natural that I would try every opportunity to bring video games into my school assignments so that I could play a little more. <u><a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.pt/2015/04/chapter-xxiv-manager.html" target="_blank">First time</a></u> didn’t work as well as it should, but since then I knew better than to use my questionable drawing skills into the equation.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2016/12/chapter-xxxvii-wizkid.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-81844263013096936452016-11-24T21:09:00.000+00:002016-11-24T21:09:53.923+00:00Chapter XXXVI: Mean MachineThere was an unspoken rule on game shops that dealt with pirated copies. If you got the shop owner a game he didn't have, you would have a copy on the house. It sounds wonderful, but we're talking about shelves filled with disks, some of them quite dusty and mostly unused.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2016/11/chapter-xxxvi-mean-machine.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-78576919258397412312016-11-02T10:52:00.000+00:002016-11-03T15:38:50.851+00:00Chapter XXXV: RodlandBy now, it’s well documented in this blog my never ending quest for some multiplayer challenge. My regular friends, due to the fact that most of them didn’t had computers of their own, were rubbish players. Still, this doesn’t explain why Amiga owners Palmtree Paul and Magellan Joe were so terrible. Since I was quite far from the epicentre of Amiga <a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.pt/2014/03/chapter-xi-sensible-soccer.html" target="_blank">championships</a>, I had no other choice than making up and imagining my own tournaments.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2016/11/chapter-xxxv-rodland.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-69549196590115475382016-08-31T21:37:00.000+01:002016-08-31T21:38:23.255+01:00Chapter XXXIV: WarlordsSomeone wise once said “We are young when we criticise the elder and we are old when we criticise the youth”. I cannot argue with that, even though that means that I’m getting older. Every now and then I watch how a kid acts and think to myself “I’m sure I used to be smarter”, specially when it comes to videogames.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2016/08/chapter-xxxiv-warlords.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-51011072430175060622016-07-23T11:40:00.001+01:002016-11-23T09:51:37.406+00:00Chapter XXXIII: Operation: CleanstreetsIn the early days there wasn't much in the way of information when it came to what were the good games. The best games were either discovered by chance or by word of mouth, but since we all know how indiscriminate were kids tastes, that usually didn't work out very well. One of the most common ways of choosing a game was just by its name.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2016/07/chapter-xxxiii-operation-cleanstreets.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-62764482303622902792016-05-10T11:42:00.003+01:002016-05-10T11:46:19.961+01:00Chapter XXXII: Pirates!It's pretty obvious by now that I'm not even trying to give this blog any semblance of continuity. That's because I don't know of what game or episode of my life I'm going to be reminded of by looking at some broken glass on the floor or a bird taking a poo. But let me assure you that if everything was done by the book, this would definitely be chapter one.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2016/05/chapter-xxxii-pirates.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-50988623769448978822016-03-09T11:50:00.001+00:002016-03-15T16:09:41.337+00:00Chapter XXXI: Wonderboy in MonsterlandI’ve mentioned in many occasions how piracy not only wasn’t fought by the authorities, but there were actually many stores around that sold pirated games in the open. These state of affairs endured until around ’93, and most of our gaming needs were purchased at the store of Mr. Joaquin.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2016/03/chapter-xxxi-wonderboy-in-monsterland.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-26002678839699839782015-12-19T20:30:00.001+00:002015-12-21T12:14:21.416+00:00Chapter XXX: TokiIt’s easy to look back with nostalgia when it comes to arcade salons. A room filled with big colourful machines capable of delivering a video game experience unlike anything you could have at home and easily accessible by just a few quarters. Well, “easily accessible” is arguable, since in my country you needed to be at least sixteen to get into one.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2015/12/chapter-xxx-toki.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-8074531228674391972015-12-10T18:22:00.002+00:002015-12-20T00:52:35.406+00:00Chapter XXIX: Legend (aka The Four Crystals of Trazere)Having a sister six years older than me meant that my musical tastes were quite sophisticated for such a young boy. By the time I was in third grade, Appetite for Destruction was not only my album of choice but it was also the only music that mattered. After I went to fifth grade, Guns n’ Roses have gotten huge, and so every kid in school was humming Knockin' On Heaven’s Door all the time. That really bothered me. How come these dumb philistines have the guts to smear the best rock band in the world? And so it was that the hateful seeds of hipsterism were planted in the mind of young Ricky Skegg.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2015/12/chapter-xix-legend-aka-four-crystals-of.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-53709638921788576772015-11-01T18:53:00.002+00:002015-11-02T15:22:05.570+00:00Chapter XXVIII: Quiksilver PinballUntil recently, I had used Pizza as an example of a thing that even when it’s bad, it’s better than just standing still and breathing oxygen. I had to let go of the Pizza analogy when eating at a canteen of a workplace some years ago. What they offered as “Pizza” was just pre-made frozen dough, of the most rock-hard variety, covered in ketchup. So I had to come up with a new analogy instead, and that was Pinball.<br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB82tHpnnFjboOKBpyZKVch1P029oxF1sxm59Zn38rfeuR0nfJw8_Ytsu9jCzVkPpy4po6z1X8zBxBTXIoXzpJxseUVXNwlDFuCWf1zRGrS5Gq2sVEbckEqCYVeygA1ShtFCO4mY49Pwo/s1600/quiksilverpinball-crop-1511011811-02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB82tHpnnFjboOKBpyZKVch1P029oxF1sxm59Zn38rfeuR0nfJw8_Ytsu9jCzVkPpy4po6z1X8zBxBTXIoXzpJxseUVXNwlDFuCWf1zRGrS5Gq2sVEbckEqCYVeygA1ShtFCO4mY49Pwo/s400/quiksilverpinball-crop-1511011811-02.png" width="400"></a></div>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2015/11/chapter-xxviii-quiksilver-pinball.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-47153016484925984302015-08-14T18:05:00.004+01:002015-08-14T18:11:01.126+01:00Chapter XXVII: Lothar Matthäus (aka European Champions)<i>“Men are born for games. Nothing else. Every child knows that play is nobler than work. He knows too that the worth or merit of a game is not inherent in the game itself but rather in the value of that which is put at hazard. Games of chance require a wager to have meaning at all. Games of sport involve the skill and strength of the opponents and the humiliation of defeat and the pride of victory are in themselves sufficient stake because they inhere in the worth of the principals and define them. But trial of chance or trial of worth all games aspire to the condition of war for here that which is wagered swallows up game, player, all.” </i><br>
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Cormac McCarthy - Blood Meridian </div>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2015/08/chapter-xxvii-lothar-matthaus-aka.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-35727643614767887012015-07-08T16:26:00.000+01:002015-07-10T10:44:57.776+01:00Chapter XXVI: Speedball 2 - Brutal DeluxeWhile I was growing up, I had a close circle of friends who used to play games in my house. One of the main <i>habitués</i> of these gaming sessions was a friend of mine called Louie FC. I had specific games to play with each one of my friends, tastes differ and all that. Every time I and Louie couldn’t decide which game to play, it was already established that Speedball 2 was going to be that game. It makes sense, it’s a fast and action packed competitive game which brings immediate satisfaction while playing.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2015/07/chapter-xxvi-speedball-2-brutal-deluxe.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-43884052357302445832015-05-14T13:26:00.001+01:002015-07-10T10:47:38.533+01:00Chapter XXV: Joan of ArcWhy do night clubs exist? Is there any reason to be in a closed, dark and claustrophobic place with deafening music? Well, we all know reasons vary between crazy people that for some reason like to dance (like Seinfeld, I don’t dance because “it’s stupid”), and other equally strange people that think that’s the best place to meet other people. I don’t like nightclubs because I reached the apex of that particular experience as soon as I was 9 years old.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2015/05/chapter-xxv-joan-of-arc.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-84537923649974047082015-04-28T16:34:00.003+01:002015-04-28T16:35:48.154+01:00Chapter XXIV: The ManagerWhile I was always a good student during my formative years, there were two classes that spoiled my grade sheet like a dog taking a shit can spoil a good day at the beach. Those were the art and workshop classes. When I was in sixth grade, I and my friend Earl Piranha had a plan that could help us with our grades in art class. And that plan included a particular videogame.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2015/04/chapter-xxiv-manager.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-11602119062493302852015-04-09T17:43:00.000+01:002015-04-09T17:43:48.768+01:00Chapter XXIII: WingsGoing to college must be one of the most exciting times in the life on any man. Gone are the embarrassing stories from high school which we had to carry for so long, and all the episodes of heartbreak and drunken stupidity we all had to endure. Sure, getting to college meant much more heavy drinking was on its way, but at least we could do things right this time, and for at least a short while, pretend to be much cooler than what our past showed. But best of all, it was time to meet new girls which weren’t attached to the small town mentality that I was used to.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2015/04/chapter-xxiii-wings.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-14811669008202903762014-12-14T10:04:00.000+00:002015-08-14T18:06:15.878+01:00Chapter XXII: Manchester United EuropeI wrote <u><a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.pt/2014/08/chapter-xix-north-south.html" target="_blank">before</a></u> about certain games that had to “disappear”, in order for me to maintain my friendships, but most of all, my sanity. Unfortunately, not always my schemes went according to plan and some games just refused to die. Meet Manchester United Europe.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2014/12/chapter-xxii-manchester-united-europe.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-73516075912603750072014-10-16T21:37:00.002+01:002015-12-13T21:08:59.801+00:00Chapter XXI: HeroQuestWhile I could consider myself a gamer since the moment of my earliest memories, it wasn’t until I was about 10 that I discovered what kind of games I did really like. Since then, and throughout the next twenty years, almost every of my gaming hours were spent with RPG’s. The game that changed everything was Hero Quest.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2014/10/chapter-xxi-heroquest.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-21608922812122620192014-08-14T16:46:00.001+01:002014-08-14T16:51:56.410+01:00Chapter XX: Sly SpyNowadays, every time we buy a new game there's an expectation to finish it. When that doesn't happen, it's usually because the game in question isn't good enough to make us waste our time, or because we got distracted by something else in our Steam backlog. Rarely a game is shelved because of difficulty issues. That wasn't the case a couple of decades ago.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2014/08/chapter-xx-sly-spy.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-33061993116279988972014-08-01T09:44:00.001+01:002014-08-14T16:53:48.044+01:00Chapter XIX: North & SouthDid you ever have a game that you had to get rid of because your friends wouldn’t shut up about wanting to play it all the time?<br>
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Well, I did have many of those, and while most of them weren’t necessarily bad, I had to set up an “accident” so I could preserve my sanity. Two of the unfortunate fatalities of these kinds of accidents were North & South and Dino Dini’s Goal! I will write about the former.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2014/08/chapter-xix-north-south.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636837823792456276.post-65077893055520785632014-07-17T14:52:00.002+01:002014-07-17T20:20:40.911+01:00Chapter XVIII: The Gold of the AztecsIt's very hard to feel the same sense of wonder as when we first started playing videogames. Growing up it’s obviously the main culprit but I'm sure there are other reasons. One of the most obvious ones is how easy and forgivable games have become. There are even games nowadays that let us skip parts of the games to just enjoy the story. What at first seems like a charitable thing to do, it just contributes to the feel that the game world isn't that big and while exploring everything the game has to offer we are emptying the mysterious space that used to be our imagination.<br>
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<a href="http://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/2014/07/chapter-xviii-gold-of-aztects.html#more">Read more »</a>Ricky Skegghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18144956858479226221noreply@blogger.com0